{"id":75476,"date":"2020-06-02T10:10:24","date_gmt":"2020-06-02T07:10:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=75476"},"modified":"2020-06-02T10:10:24","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T07:10:24","slug":"priestly-wardrobe-changes-containing-consecration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/priestly-wardrobe-changes-containing-consecration\/","title":{"rendered":"Priestly Wardrobe Changes: Containing Consecration"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"75476","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":66417,"related_cahpter":"494","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"On the importance of spiritual transitions\r\n\r\n","content":"

I love attending Jewish meditation retreats. I experience them as holy spaces, offering me the chance to slow down and get in touch with myself and God more deeply.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of most retreats, participants are reminded to be gentle with ourselves and others while reentering the world. We are much more open and sensitive than usual and this may impact our relationships with others.<\/span><\/p>\n

The instructions given to Ezekiel in Chapter 41 regarding how priests should behave inside and outside the inner court remind me of my transitions from retreats back into normal life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Verse 14 states, \u201cWhen the priests enter, they shall not proceed from the consecrated place to the outer court without first leaving here the vestments in which they minister; for the [vestments] are consecrated. Before proceeding to the area open to the people, they shall put on other garments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When the priests are in the areas where sacrifices are offered and eaten, they wear one set of garments. These garments have been consecrated for temple use only. When they leave those areas to go to the outer court where there are non-priests, they must change their clothes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first time I read this verse, I assumed that the reason they had to change their clothes was because the people they encountered might desecrate their sacred garments. However, the actual reason is just the opposite.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ezekiel 44:19 describes how \u201cWhen they [the priests] go out to the outer court\u2014the outer court where the people are\u2014they shall remove the vestments in which they minister and shall deposit them in the sacred chambers; they shall put on other garments, lest they make the people consecrated by [contact with] their vestments.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue is not that the people will desecrate the priestly garments, but instead that the garments will consecrate the people. NJPS helpfully explains in a note that these consecrated garments would make the people who touched them \u201cunfit for ordinary activity.\u201d The people would be dedicated to the temple, unable to go about their normal lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Attending Jewish meditation retreats is an important part of my spiritual life, but I cannot live in that retreat space forever. I must always be intentional about transitioning from this holy time\/space back into normal life.<\/span><\/p>\n

This lesson from Ezekiel does not just apply to retreats, but also to Shabbat. We must enjoy the holiness of Shabbat, clothing ourselves in its light as we get a taste of the world to come. However, when Shabbat ends, we must change clothes as we transition back to our everyday lives in this world.<\/span><\/p>\n

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